Charger, charge indicator, and associated methods

ABSTRACT

A system and method for charging battery packs is provided. The system may include a charging pad comprising a power supply, a charging pad surface, and a microcontroller unit. The power supply may provide charging power. The charging pad surface may include a first charging region and a second charging region. The microcontroller unit may control delivery of charging power to the first charging region and the second charging region such that a device placed in contact with the first charging region is given a higher charging priority than a device placed in contact with the second charging region.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/158,952, filed on Oct. 12, 2018, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/355,345, filed on Nov. 18, 2016, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,128,668, which claims benefit from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/402,520, filed on Sep. 30, 2016 andclaims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/410,142, filed on Oct. 19, 2016. The above stated applications arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to rechargeable batteries andthe chargers and methods used to recharge such batteries.

BACKGROUND

Constellation/dots style conductive charging is a charging technologythat relies on the contact between small metallic ball tips on a batteryand charged metallic strips on a charger. Existing conductive chargingtechnology has been implemented in cell phones, tablets, and consumerelectronics, for example. Constellation/dot style conductive charginghas not yet been commercially implemented on power tools due to a numberof challenges. For example, conductive charging may not operate properlyin a garage, outdoor, and construction site environment that power toolsare subjected to because the contacts of the charging device may getdirty. If a ball tip were to get dirty, sufficient electrical contactmay not be made between the two elements.

As another example, power tool batteries continue to increase in bothvoltage and capacity; however, conductive charging pads are typicallyset to be charged at low voltage to reduce the risk of user injury. Withthis low voltage pad surface requirement, the system is forced into anumber of compromises. First, higher voltage/capacity batteries mayrequire a higher voltage differential or amperage draw than the smallball tips are capable of conducting due to the limited contact area.Second, additional circuitry is typically needed within the battery packfor higher voltages to step up the voltage so that the battery can becharged.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of thefigures, and set forth more completely in the claims are systems andmethods for charging rechargeable batteries and/or for providing statusinformation regarding a charging state of such rechargeable batteries.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of illustrated embodiments thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of an exemplary battery chargingsystem, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 provides a block diagram of the exemplary battery charging systemof FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for charging abattery of a device having multiple terminal constellations, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of an exemplary battery pack havingmultiple terminal constellations, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates front and rear perspective views of an exemplarybattery pack having multiple terminal constellations, in accordance witha representative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary power tool having multipleterminal constellations, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage and two redundantterminal constellations, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage and one redundantterminal constellation, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging systemcharging a battery pack having cells connected in series, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 provides a perspective view of an exemplary battery charging padwith integrated battery cells.

FIG. 12 provides a perspective view of an exemplary battery charging padwith integrated solar panels.

FIG. 13 depicts a charging pad surface with multiple regions.

FIG. 14 depicts rechargeable devices placed on charging pad surface withmultiple regions.

FIG. 15 depicts an exemplary charging system that prioritizes regions ofthe charging pad surface based on a user control.

FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary charging system with a permanentlyprioritized region of the charging pad surface.

FIG. 17 depicts an exemplary charging system that prioritizes regions ofthe charging pad surface based on discharge levels of devices on theregions of the charging pad surface.

FIG. 18 depicts a flowchart for a method of prioritizing regions of thecharging pad surface based on discharge levels of devices on the regionsof the charging pad surface.

FIGS. 19-21 depict a status indicator for rechargeable devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion presents various aspects of the presentdisclosure by way of one or more examples. Such examples arenon-limiting, and thus the scope of various aspects of the presentdisclosure should not necessarily be limited by any particularcharacteristics of the provided examples. In the following discussion,the phrases “for example,” “e.g.,” and “exemplary” are non-limiting andare generally synonymous with “by way of example and not limitation,”“for example and not limitation,” and the like.

As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in thelist joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any elementof the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. In other words, “x and/ory” means “one or both of x and y.” As another example, “x, y, and/or z”means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x,z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. In other words, “x, y and/or z” means “one ormore of x, y, and z.”

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexamples only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. Asused herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural formsas well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will befurther understood that the terms “comprises,” “includes,” “comprising,”“including,” “has,” “have,” “having,” and the like when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another element. Thus, for example, a first element, afirst component or a first section discussed below could be termed asecond element, a second component or a second section without departingfrom the teachings of the present disclosure. Similarly, various spatialterms, such as “upper,” “lower,” “side,” and the like, may be used indistinguishing one element from another element in a relative manner. Itshould be understood, however, that components may be oriented indifferent manners, for example a component may be turned sideways sothat its “top” surface is facing horizontally and its “side” surface isfacing vertically, without departing from the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

In the drawings, various dimensions (e.g., layer thickness, width, etc.)may be exaggerated for illustrative clarity. Additionally, likereference numbers are utilized to refer to like elements through thediscussions of various examples.

The discussion will now refer to various example illustrations providedto enhance the understanding of the various aspects of the presentdisclosure. It should be understood that the scope of this disclosure isnot limited by the specific characteristics of the examples provided anddiscussed herein.

Aspects of the present disclosure are related to systems and methods forcharging battery packs. More specifically, certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure relate to systems and methods that provideconstellation/dots style conductive charging having multiple terminalconstellations for one or both of providing redundancy in the case ofdirty or non-working contacts and providing a voltage/amperage dividefor handling higher voltage and/or increased capacity battery packs.

Aspects of the present disclosure are also related to integrating apower supply within a charging pad of the charging system. Integratingthe power supply adaptor within the charging pad may eliminate the needfor a separate power supply external to the recharging system. Suchintegration may increase durability and/or utility of the charging padand charging system, thus rendering the charging system more suitablefor harsh and/or dirty environments associated with power tool usage.

A representative embodiment of the present disclosure provides multiplesets of the ball tip constellations on a battery, power tool, or otherdevice. The ball tip constellations may provide either redundancy in thecase of a dirty contact and/or a voltage/amperage divide in the case ofthe larger packs. For example, by duplicating the dot sets the risk of adevice not charging when on a charging pad due to faulty, dirty, ordamaged dot constellations is reduced. As another example, by addingadditional dot sets, the current can be divided by the number of dotsets thus decreasing it to a reasonable range without increasing thecharge time required. Additionally and/or alternatively, adding multipleconstellations to the device provides options for positioning or placingthe device on a charging pad. For example, dots/constellation on the topsurface and bottom surface of the device enable the device to be placedon a charging mat without regard to which surface is touching the pad,since both surfaces have constellations. In various embodiments, thebattery pack may be broken down into smaller groups of cells at lowerseries sum voltages to enable charging pad voltage to remain lower thanthe total series sum voltage of the multi-cell battery pack. The brokendown battery pack addresses the safety issue of retaining low voltagesurfaces on the charging pad and eliminates the need for modulatingvoltage up to a level needed to charge higher series sum batteryvoltages.

As utilized herein, the terms “exemplary” or “example” means serving asa non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. As utilized herein,the term “e.g.” introduces a list of one or more non-limiting examples,instances, or illustrations.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 a charging system 10 is shown, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.The charging system 10 may include a charging pad 20 and a rechargeabledevice 22. The charging pad 20 may comprise an AC power supply 30, asensing circuit 40, and a charging pad surface 50. The rechargeabledevice 22 may include multiple terminal constellations 60, 62, a switch64, a microcontroller unit (MCU) 65, a rectifier 68, a regulator 69, andone or more rechargeable battery cells 70. The power supply 30 mayreceive power from an AC wall outlet via a power cord 32. Moreover, thepower supply 30 may be housed within a casing or housing 23 of thecharging pad 20. Encasing the power supply 30 within the housing 23 mayhelp protect the power supply from harsh environments. Moreover, suchencasing may increase usability and convenience since a user of such acharging system 10 is not required to handle and maintain an externalpower supply.

The sensing circuit may condition power provided by the power supply 30and provide such conditioned power to electrodes 52, 54 of the chargingpad surface 50. The electrodes 52, 54 may comprise metal strips on thecharging pad surface 50 that are respectively coupled to positive andnegative power terminals 42, 44 of the sensing circuit 40. The multipleterminal constellations 60, 62 of the rechargeable device 22 may eachhave a pattern of contact points 66, such as small metallic ball tips orany suitable contact point. In particular, the electrodes 52, 54 and thecontact points 66 of the constellations 60, 62 are geometricallyarranged such that at least one contact point 66 of each constellation60, 62 contacts the positive electrode 52 of the charging pad surface 50and at least one contact point 66 of each constellation 60, 62 contactsthe negative electrode 54 of the charging pad surface 50 irrespective ofwhere each of the constellations 60, 62 is placed on the charging padsurface 50. In this manner, the contact points 66 of each of theterminal constellations 60, 62 makes a direct electrical connection tothe electrodes 52, 54 when placed on the charging pad surface 50.

In various embodiments, the multiple terminal constellations 60, 62 maybe wired together inside the device 22. Additionally and/oralternatively, the switch 64 may select from which of the terminalconstellation 60, 62 to charge the device 22. The MCU 65 unit mayinclude a processor and a memory that is in communication with theprocessor. The processor may execute instructions stored in the memoryto determine a connection strategy and to control the switch 64. Theswitch 64 may provide charge signals received from one or more multipleterminal constellations 60, 62 to the rectifier 68, such as a four-waybridge rectifier. Because it is not possible to know which contactpoint(s) 66 of each of the constellations 60, 62 will contact thepositive electrode 52 and which contact point(s) 66 of each of theconstellations 60, 62 will contact the negative electrode 54, therectifier 68 may be used to receive power signals from the contactpoint(s) with an unknown polarity and provide the regulator 69 withpower signals of a desired polarity. The regulator 69 may regulate thepower received from the rectifier 68 and provide the regulated output tothe rechargeable battery cells 70.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method 300 for chargingbattery cells 70 of a device 22 having multiple terminal constellations60, 62, in accordance with a representative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The actions of the method of FIG. 2 may be performed usingelements of the system 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 including, for example, thepower supply 30, the sensing circuit 40, the charging pad surface 50,the multiple terminal constellations 60, 62, the switch 64, the MCU 65,the rectifier 68, the regulator 69, and rechargeable battery cell(s) 70.The system 10 may be arranged to provide redundancy, for example.Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may omit one or more ofthe actions, and/or perform the actions in a different order than theorder listed, and/or combine certain of the actions discussed below. Forexample, some actions may not be performed in certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure. As a further example, certain actions may beperformed in a different temporal order, including simultaneously, thanlisted below.

Initially, multiple terminal constellations 60, 62 of a device 22 may beplaced on the charging pad surface 50 to make a direct electricalconnection between the contact points 66 of the multiple terminalconstellations 60, 62 and the pad electrodes 52, 54. The multipleterminal constellations 60, 62 may comprise a primary terminalconstellation set and a secondary redundant terminal constellation set.The switch 64 may be controlled by MCU 65 to receive charging signal(s)from the primary terminal constellation set.

Next, the switch 64 at 310 may provide the received charging signal(s)to the rectifier 68. The MCU 65 at 320 may monitor the rectifier 68 todetermine whether the contact points 66 of the primary terminalconstellation set are operational. If the connections of the primaryterminal constellation set are operational, the rectifier 68 at 330 mayright the polarity of the received charging signals and may providepositive and negative power signals to the regulator 69. The regulator69 at 335 may then charge the rechargeable battery cells 70 with itsregulated output.

If the contact points 66 of the primary terminal constellation set arenot operational at 320, the MCU 65 at 340 may control the switch 64 toreceive charging signals from the secondary redundant terminalconstellation set. Then, the switch 64 may provide the charging signalsfrom the secondary redundant terminal constellation to the rectifier 68.The MCU 65 at 350 may monitor the rectifier 68 to determine whether thecontact points 66 of the secondary redundant terminal constellation setare operational. If the connections of the secondary redundant terminalconstellation set are operational, the rectifier 68 at 330 may right thepolarity of the charging signals and may provide positive and negativepower signal to the regulator 68. The regulator 68 at 335 may charge therechargeable battery cells 70 with its regulated output. If theconnections of the secondary redundant terminal constellation set arenot operational, the MCU 65 at 360 may provide a notification. Forexample, the MCU 65 may illuminate an error light, may sound an alarm,and/or may display a message, in order to notify a user that thecharging system 10 is not operational.

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of an exemplary battery pack 120having multiple terminal constellations 60, 62, in accordance with arepresentative embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated inFIG. 3 , first and second dot constellation sets are provided forconvenience.

FIG. 5 illustrates front and rear perspective views of an exemplarybattery pack 130 having multiple terminal constellations 60, 62, inaccordance with a representative embodiment of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 5 , one or more terminal constellations 60, 62 may beprovided, for example, on a front and a rear of the battery pack 130. Invarious embodiments, depending on the geometry of the battery pack 130,additional dot sets may be provided on different faces of the batterypack 130 so that each of the different faces of the battery pack 130 maybe placed on the charging pad surface 50 in a manner that electricallyconnects respective contact points 66 to electrodes 52, 54 of thesurface 50.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary power tool 140 havingmultiple terminal constellations 60, in accordance with a representativeembodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6 , one ormore terminal constellations 60 may be placed on a device itself, suchas the power tool 140 or any suitable device. An advantage of providingone or more terminal constellations on a battery pack is that thebattery pack does not have to be removed from the tool 140 whencharging. However, depending on the geometry of the tool 140, it may bedifficult or inconvenient to place the battery pack 140 down on thecharging pad surface 50 when still connected to the tool 140, such asthe reciprocating saw shown in FIG. 6 , for example. In this case,various embodiments provide one or more sets of contact points 66 on aface of the tool body which may be more convenient. As described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the additional set(s) of dots may bewired directly to the primary set in the rechargeable device or wiredthrough a switch 64 that selects the appropriate constellation setdepending on the situation, and the connection strategy could becontrolled by the MCU 65 using alternative logic.

In various embodiments, multiple terminal constellations may beimplemented on higher voltage batteries in a number of ways, which allprovide the advantage of having lower voltage or amperage at eachcontact point of each of the multiple terminal constellations. In anexemplary embodiment, the battery cells within the battery pack may bedivided into charging groups. For example, a battery pack containingfour cells (e.g., ˜4v each, connected in series to create ˜16V) couldhave two charging groups of two cells each (e.g., ˜8v total per twocells). Each charging group may have a dedicated dot set which wouldconnect to the charging pad. There may be a switch inside the batterypack to decouple the charging groups from each other while the batteryis charging and the connection strategy could be controlled by amicroprocessor using alternative logic because the cells are typicallyinternally wired in series. In this way, the series sum voltage isdivided by two to 4v divisions since there are two charging groups and amore efficient and safe charging system is created compared to a systemwith a single dot set. In certain embodiments, a system having one dotset may switch between multiple charging groups. For example, with thetwo charging group example above, there could be two dot sets connectedto the two battery sets. The dot sets would switch between two chargingsets during the charging process.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage, in accordancewith a representative embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring toFIG. 7 , two sets of dots may be used to split the charge voltage. TheMCU as well as a battery management system (BMS) in the battery pack maybe switched based on charge versus discharge mode.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage and two redundantterminal constellations, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8 , a first two sets ofdots may be used to split the charge voltage and each of the first twosets of dots may have a separate redundant set of dots for reliability.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an exemplary battery charging system havingtwo terminal constellations to split a charge voltage and one redundantterminal constellation, in accordance with a representative embodimentof the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 9 , a first two setsof dots may be used to split the charge voltage and an additional set ofredundant dots may effectively float where needed based on switchinglogic after the bridge rectifier.

In various embodiments, the multiple terminal constellations may bewired together inside the device 22. Additionally and/or alternatively,a switch may be implemented to select from which of the terminalconstellations to charge. The microcontroller unit may include a memorythat is in communication with a processor that is used to determine theconnection strategy and control the switch. The charge signals receivedvia the switch from the one or more of the multiple terminalconstellations are provided to a rectifier, such as a four-way bridgerectifier. Because it is not possible to know which contact(s) of eachof the constellations will land on a positive strip and which contact(s)of each of the constellations will land on a negative strip, a four-waybridge rectifier is used to right the random polarity. The positive andnegative power signal output by the rectifier is provided to a regulatorthat provides a regulated output to the battery.

Other aspects of the present disclosure are related to improvedportability of the charging system. The charging system 10 describedabove in regard to FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an AC power supply 30 thatreceived power from an AC wall outlet via a power cord 32. Due to theplug-in requirement of the power cord, the charging system 10 may havelimited portability. FIGS. 11 and 12 respectively depict charging system210 and 220 that include alternate and/or additional power supplies.

In particular, FIG. 11 depicts a charging system 210 that may beimplemented in a manner similar to charging system 10. However, inadditional and/or alternatively to the power supply 30 and power cord 32of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the charging system 210 includes one or more batterycells 212. The battery cells of the charging system 210 may be internalto its charging pad 214. Furthermore, the battery cells 212 may havesufficient capacity to charge power tool batteries or other devices 22placed on the charging pad surface 50 while the charging pad 214 is notconnected to AC power (e.g., plugged into an AC wall outlet). As such,the charging system 210 may exhibit increased portability since thecharging system 210 may operate without regard to the availabilityand/or proximity to an AC power source such as, for example, an AC walloutlet. Specifically, the integrated battery cells 212 of the chargingpad 214 may be charged while connected to AC wall outlet. Aftercharging, the charging pad 214 may be disconnected from AC wall outlet.While disconnected from the AC wall outlet, the charging pad 214 mayutilize its integrated battery cells 214 to charge devices 22 placed onthe charging pad 214. Thus, the charging system 210 may enable chargingon job sites and in places where AC wall power is not readily availableand/or readily accessible.

Referring now to FIG. 12 , another charging system 220 is shown. Thecharging system 220 may be implemented in a manner similar to chargingsystem 10. However, in additional and/or alternatively to the powersupply 30 and power cord 32 of FIGS. 1 and 2 , the charging system 220includes one or more solar panels 222. Power generated by the solarpanels 222 may charge integrated battery cells similar to those of FIG.11 , which in turn, may charge battery cells 70 and/or other devices 22placed on the charging pad surface 50 of the charging pad 224. Powergenerated by the solar panels 222 may also pass through the charging padsurface 50 to directly charge battery cells 70 and/or other devices 22placed on the charging pad 224.

Referring now to FIG. 13 , an embodiment of a charging pad surface 400is shown which may be used to implement the charging pad surface 50 ofthe charging systems 10, 210, and 220 of FIGS. 1, 11, and 12 . Thecharging pad surface 400 includes at least two separate, chargingregions or zones 410, 420. The multiple charging regions 410, 420 of thecharging pad surface 400 may permit prioritization of devices 22 to becharged.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the charging pad surface 50 of the charging pad 20has a single charging zone. The charging pad surface 50 maysimultaneously charge multiple rechargeable devices 22, such as multiplebattery packs, that are placed upon the charging pad surface 50. To thisend, the charging pad 20 and its surface 50 may equally split its totalpad power across each of the device 22, thus resulting in the chargingpad 20 charging each device 22 at an equal rate. The charging padsurface 400 may have at least two separate, charging regions 410, 420.As shown, region 410 includes a positive electrode 412 and a negativeelectrode 414 similar to electrodes 52, 54 of FIG. 1 . Similarly, region420 includes a positive electrode 422 and a negative electrode 424similar to electrodes 52, 54 of FIG. 1 . As such, each region 410, 420has its own separate, electrodes which may permit the charging padsurface 400 to charge devices 22 at different rates based on the region410, 420 upon which the device 22 is placed.

Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 15 , one embodiment of a charging system500 that provides prioritized charging is shown. As shown, the chargingsystem 500 may include a manually operated control 510, such as abutton, switch, dial, etc., which the user may actuate in order toselect a boost mode of operation. A microcontroller unit (MCU) 520 ofthe charging system 500 may receive a signal indicative of whether theuser has activated the control 510. Based upon such a signal, the MCU520 may selectively operate the charging pad surface 400 per a normalmode or the boost mode of operation. During the normal mode ofoperation, the MCU 520 may cause power (current and/or voltage) to beevenly distributed among the charging regions 410, 420. During the boostmode of operation, the MCU 520 may be configured to cause more power(current and/or voltage) to be delivered to charging region 410 thanwhen in the normal mode of operation. Such an increase in power to theregion 410 may also reduce the power delivered to the region 420. As aresult, during the boost mode, devices 22 placed on region 410 mayreceive more power than devices 22 on region 410 and may be effectivelygiven a higher charging priority than devices 22 placed on region 420.Thus, such prioritized devices 22 on region 410 may charge more quicklythan devices on region 420.

As shown, the charging system 500 of FIGS. 14 and 15 includes a control510 which a user may actuate in order to select between a normal modeand a boost mode of operation. The charging system 600 of FIG. 16 doesnot include such a control 510. Instead, the MCU 520 of the chargingsystem 600 of FIG. 16 may be configured to permanently boost the region410 by some predetermined permanent amount. Thus, the charging system600 may have a single mode of operation in which the charging system 600prioritizes charging of devices 22 placed on region 410 in a mannersimilar to the boost mode of operation provided by the charging system500.

Referring now to FIGS. 17 and 18 , another charging system 700 isdepicted, which may provide a reactive boost mode. The charging system700 may be implemented similarly to the charging system 500 of FIGS. 14and 15 . For example, the charging system 700 may include a manuallyoperated control 710, such as a button, switch, dial, etc., which theuser may actuate in order to select the reactive boost mode ofoperation. Per the reactive mode of operation, the MCU 520 may monitorvoltage levels of the rechargeable devices 22 placed on regions 410,420. Based on such monitored voltage levels, the MCU 520 may select aregion 410, 420 to prioritize. For example, the lower the charge of arechargeable device 22 on a region 410, 420, the higher the chargingpriority the MCU 520 may assign the respective region 410, 420 toincrease an effective charge rate of the rechargeable device 22 on suchregion 410, 420.

One embodiment of a method 800 for reactively prioritizing regions 410,420 based monitored voltage levels or charge levels of the rechargeabledevices 22 is shown in FIG. 18 . As shown, the MCU 520 of the chargingsystem 700 may determine at 810 whether regions 410, 420 are bothcharging devices 22. If both regions are not charging, then the MCU 520at 820 may assign 100% priority to the region 410, 420 that is charginga device 22 and direct 100% of the charging power provided by powersupply 30 to the selected region 410, 420.

At 830 and 835, the MCU 520 may determine which region 410, 420 has thedevice 22 that is the most discharged and therefore in the greatest needof a charge. The MCU 520 at 840, 845 assign priority to the region 410,420 which has the device 22 that is the most discharged. The MCU 520 at850 may retain the assigned priorities until the devices 22 of thepriorities region are fully charged. After fully charging the devices22, the MCU 520 may return to 810 and update assigned priorities basedon monitored discharge or voltage levels of the devices 22 place onregions 410, 420.

As shown in FIG. 14 , multiple devices 22 may be placed on the chargingpad surface 400. Similarly, multiple devices 22 may be placed on thecharging pad surface 50 of FIGS. 1 and 2 . Thus, the charging padsurfaces 50, 400 may be in the process of charging several devices 22.Moreover, as explained above, the constellations 60, 62 may permit thedevices 22 to be operatively placed on the charging pad surfaces 50, 400in a vast number of orientations. As such in FIGS. 19-21 , such devices22 may include a status indicator 910 that provides a visual indicationas to the charging status of the respective device 22. As shown, thestatus indicator 910 in one embodiment comprises a plurality visualindicators 912. The visual indicators may be positioned on multiplesides of the device 22 to ensure that the visual indicators 912 may bereadily viewed by a user when the charging pad surface 50, 400 becomescluttered with multiple devices 22 or when the orientation of the device22 results in one or more of the visual indicators 912 facing away fromthe user or being obscured by the charging pad surface 40, 500 or otherdevices 22.

In particular, FIGS. 19-21 depict a battery pack 900 having one or moreconstellations on a bottom surface 902 of the battery pack 900. See,e.g., FIG. 4 . The visual indicators 912 may be positioned on a frontface 904, a back face 905, a left face 906, and right face 907 toprovide a ring of light around the entire battery pack 900. The visualindicators 912 may include a plurality of illumination devices such aslight emitting diodes (LEDS), incandescent lamps, halogen lamps,fluorescent lamps strategically placed on each of the faces 904, 905,906, 907 of the battery pack 900. The visual indicators 912 may also beimplemented via a single illumination source that utilizes light pipes,optical fiber, light rings, solid transparent rods, etc., to extendvisual broadcast of the single illumination source from each of thefaces 904, 905, 906, 907.

Thus, when the battery pack 900 is in a charging mode, the statusindicator 910 via the visual indicators 912 may emit light 360 degreesaround the battery pack 900 or emit light from a plurality of positionsfrom the faces 904, 905, 906, 907 of a battery pack 900. In addition tothe concept of providing 360 degrees of visual feedback, the visualindicators 912 may be further configured to direct their emitted lighttoward the charging pad surface 50, 400 as shown in FIG. 21 . In someembodiments, the charging pad surface 50, 400 provides a reflectivesurface. As such, light emitted by the status indicator 910 may bereflected off the charging pad surface 50, 400 in order to provideadditional viewing angles for assessing the status of the battery pack900 thus permitting the user to simply look down at the battery pack 900during a charge mode. To this end, the visual indicators 912 may includea lens, light guide, etc., designed to direct emitted light towards thecharging pad surface 40, 500 when the constellations 60, 62 are incontact with the electrodes 52, 54 of the charging pad surface 40, 500.

The status indicator 910 may provide status information such as whetherthe device 22 is charging, a current charge capacity, whether chargingis complete, an error condition, etc. To this end, the status indicator910 may convey such information via the presence or absence of emittedlight, the color of the emitted light, a blinking pattern of emittedlight, pattern of illuminated faces 904, 905, 906, 907, and/or someother manner of illuminating and/or not illuminating the visualindicators 912.

Although certain embodiments may describe providing conductive chargingwith multiple terminal constellations in the context of a power tool,for example, unless so claimed, the scope of various aspects of thepresent disclosure should not be limited to power tools and mayadditionally and/or alternatively be applicable to any suitable device.For example, certain embodiments provide high voltage and/or highcapacity use of constellation/dot style conductive charging for laptopcomputers, electric cars, or any suitable device.

Various embodiments provide charging a single battery and/or device suchas a power tool using multiple terminal constellations (also referred toas multiple dot sets). In certain embodiments, a plurality of dot setsmay create redundancy from a contact standpoint. If one dot set (e.g., 4contact points or a plurality of contact points) is not making fullcontact and providing input to the four-way bridge rectifier or aplurality of bridge rectifiers, the microcontroller unit may switch to aredundant set of dots.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of minimizing voltageat the contact points by splitting the voltage substantially in half inthe case of a 16V battery pack splitting the voltage in half with twosets of dots, for example. This method may be used with higher voltagepacks (e.g., 60V packs etc.).

In certain embodiments, the voltage is minimized at the contact pointsby splitting the voltage and one or more additional redundant set ofdots for each pair of dots that have already split the voltage may beimplemented.

In an exemplary embodiment, one additional set of redundant dots may bedetermined with a logic switch as to which split voltage dot set is inneed of redundancy.

In various embodiments, a 16V or any suitable voltage battery pack maybe charged at a rate of half (e.g., 8V) or even lower. Although thissolution would prove less complex, the charge time would essentiallydouble because of limiting the charge rate. Although the charge rate isbeing reduced, the discharge rate of the battery pack is not affected.

Various aspects of the present disclosure have been described inreference to exemplary conductive charging systems such as the chargingsystems described above in regard to FIGS. 1-21 . However, aspects ofthe present disclosure are suitable for use with inductive chargingsystems, capacitive charging systems, and/or other types of chargingsystems.

Although devices, methods, and systems according to the presentdisclosure may have been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form setforth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover suchalternative, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonablyincluded within the scope of the disclosure as defined by thisdisclosure and appended diagrams.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosurenot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that thepresent disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1-20. (canceled)
 21. A charging system, comprising:a charging pad comprising a charging surface divided into at least afirst surface region and a second surface region that arenon-overlapping; and a controller configured to cause a first portion ofavailable charging power to be delivered to the first surface region ofthe charging surface and cause a second portion of the availablecharging power to be delivered to the second surface region of thecharging surface; wherein the first surface region of the chargingsurface recharges a first rechargeable device per the first portion ofavailable charging power when the first rechargeable device is placed incontact with the first surface region of the charging surface; whereinthe second surface region of the charging surface recharges the firstrechargeable device per the second portion of the available chargingpower when the first rechargeable device is placed in contact with thesecond surface region of the charging surface; and wherein the firstsurface region recharges the first rechargeable device at a fastercharging rate than the second surface region recharges the firstrechargeable device.
 22. The charging system of claim 21, wherein thecontroller is configured to monitor charging.
 23. The charging system ofclaim 21, wherein monitor a first charge level of a first rechargeabledevice when placed in contact with the first surface region of thecharging surface; monitor a second charge level of a second rechargeabledevice when placed in contact with the second surface region of thecharging surface;
 24. The charging system of claim 21, wherein thecontroller is configured to direct the available charging power solelyto the first surface region of the charging surface in response to thefirst rechargeable device being placed in contact with the first surfaceregion and no rechargeable device being placed in contact with thesecond surface region of the charging surface.
 25. The charging systemof claim 21, comprising: a power supply; and a power cord configured tocouple the power supply to a power outlet; wherein the power supplyprovides the available charging power based on power received via thepower cord when coupled the power outlet.
 26. The charging system ofclaim 21, comprising one or more battery cells configured to provide theavailable charging power.
 27. The charging system of claim 26,comprising one or more solar panels configured to recharge the one ormore battery cells.
 28. The charging system of claim 21, comprising:first metal strips arranged along the first surface region of thecharging surface such that contact points of the first rechargeabledevice contact the first metal strips when the first rechargeable deviceis placed in contact with the first surface region of the chargingsurface, wherein the first metal strips conductively charge the firstrechargeable device via the contact points in contact with the firstmetal strips; and second metal strips arranged along the second surfaceregion of the charging surface such that the contact points of the firstrechargeable device contact the second metal strips when the firstrechargeable device is placed in contact with the second surface regionof the charging surface, wherein the second metal strips conductivelycharge the first rechargeable device via the contact points in contactwith the second metal strips.
 29. A charging system, comprising: acharging pad comprising a charging surface that is divided into a firstsurface region and a second surface region that is distinct from thesecond surface region; and a controller that is configured to: monitor afirst charge level of a first rechargeable device when placed in contactwith the first surface region of the charging surface; monitor a secondcharge level of a second rechargeable device when placed in contact withthe second surface region of the charging surface; and direct firstcharging power to the first surface region and second charging power tothe second surface region that is less than the first charging power inresponse to determining that a first partially charged level indicatedby the first charge level of the first rechargeable device is lower thana second partially charged level indicated by the second charge level ofthe second rechargeable device.
 30. The charging system of claim 29,wherein the controller is configured to direct charging power solely tothe first surface region of the charging surface in response to thefirst rechargeable device being placed in contact with the first surfaceregion and no rechargeable device being placed in contact with thesecond surface region of the charging surface.
 31. The charging systemof claim 29, wherein the controller is configured to direct chargingpower solely to the first surface region in response to the firstrechargeable device being placed in contact with the first surfaceregion of the charging surface and the second rechargeable device placedin contact with the second surface region of the charging surface beingfully charged.
 32. The charging system of claim 29, wherein thecontroller is configured to determine the first charge level of thefirst rechargeable device and the second charge level of the secondrechargeable device based on a first voltage of the first rechargeabledevice when placed in contact with the first surface region of thecharging surface and a second voltage of the second rechargeable devicewhen placed in contact with the second surface region of the chargingsurface.
 33. The charging system of claim 29, wherein the controller isconfigured to determine the first charge level of the first rechargeabledevice and the second charge level of the second rechargeable devicebased on a first discharged amount of the first rechargeable device whenplaced in contact with the first surface region of the charging surfaceand a second discharged amount of the second rechargeable device whenplaced in contact with the second surface region of the chargingsurface.
 34. The charging system of claim 29, wherein: first metalstrips arranged along the first surface region of the charging surfacesuch that first contact points of the first rechargeable device contactthe first metal strips when the first rechargeable device is placed incontact with the first surface region of the charging surface, whereinthe first metal strips conductively charge the first rechargeable devicevia the first contact points in contact with the first metal strips; andsecond metal strips arranged along the second surface region of thecharging surface such that second contact points of the secondrechargeable device contact the second metal strips when the secondrechargeable device is placed in contact with the second surface regionof the charging surface, wherein the second metal strips conductivelycharge the second rechargeable device via the second contact points incontact with the second metal strips.
 35. The charging system of claim29, comprising: a power supply; and a power cord configured to couplethe power supply to a power outlet; and wherein the power supplyprovides charging power based on power received via the power cord whencoupled the power outlet.
 36. The charging system of claim 29,comprising one or more battery cells configured to provide chargingpower.
 37. A method of charging, the method comprising: monitoring, viaa controller, a first charge level of a first rechargeable device whenplaced in contact with a first surface region of a charging surface ofthe charging system; monitoring, via the controller, a second chargelevel of a second rechargeable device when placed in contact with asecond surface region of the charging surface; and increasing aneffective charge rate of the first surface region in response to thecontroller determining that a first partially charged level indicated bythe first charge level of the first rechargeable device is lower than asecond partially charged level indicated by the second charge level ofthe second rechargeable device.
 38. The method of claim 37, comprisingdirecting charging power solely to the first surface region of thecharging surface in response to the controller: determining that thefirst rechargeable device is placed in contact with the first surfaceregion of the charging surface; and determining that no rechargeabledevice is placed in contact with the second surface region of thecharging surface.
 39. The method of claim 37, comprising directingcharging power solely to the first surface region of the chargingsurface in response to the controller: determining that the firstrechargeable device is placed in contact with the first surface regionof the charging surface; and determining that the second rechargeabledevice placed in contact with the second surface region of the chargingsurface is fully charged.
 40. The method of claim 37, comprisingconductively charging the first rechargeable device via first contactpoints of the first rechargeable device that are in contact with thefirst surface region of the charging surface.